I'll Provide The Tale Told By An Idiot...

Kind words from the Prof inspire me to provide some helpful advice to journalists.

Murray Waas had a (typically) good article yesterday in the National Journal on Dick Cheney's involvement in the Plame investigation, based on documents released last week and supported by some new quotes from his uncanny sources close to the investigation.

And Mr. Waas certainly moved the needle - the NY Times went wild:

The letter was first reported Thursday by the National Journal, which said its sources had identified that one of the superiors was Mr. Cheney.

"The letter was first reported"?  Even the Times had noted it a week ago.

By contrast, the WaPo was restrained to the point of accuracy:

The National Journal first reported on its Web site yesterday that Cheney had provided the authorization.

And the AP managed to shake some new quotes out of people.

Well, here comes the handy hint, which should be especially helpful to the Times - check a few blogs before putting on the big floppy shoes and commencing the clown show.

For example, here is the Emptywheel, from (I'm embarrased for the Times as I type this) Feb. 1:

Two more bits. First, we learn from this that the intent of the July 8 conversation--the one where Judy had to come to DC for breakfast at the St. Regis? Well, the stated reason for that meeting was so Libby could leak the classified contents of the NIE to Judy. Now, apparently Libby "was authorized to disclose information about the NIE to the press by his superiors." (6) Hmm. Libby is the Chief of Staff to the VP. Who are his superiors. Hold on, I know!! Dick Cheney! George Bush! Both telling Libby to go peddle classified information to journalists. Nice crowd, this Bush White House.

No, no one close to the investigation confirmed that guess at that time, but really - a big time reporter might have found a clue or two in that passage.

Or here is ReddHedd, from the firedoglake team cited above:

...but suffice it to say Fitz dangles out an intriguing tidbit: Libby disclosed information regarding the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE), and was authorized to do so by his superiors, according to Libby's own testimony to the Grand Jury. Fitz goes on to say that the NIE information was a basis for his discussion with Judy Miller on July 8, and that it is "inextricably intertwined with the narrative of events of Spring 2003," as Libby's testimony makes plain. Well, isn't that juicy?

C'mon, leads are hiding in plain sight.

Comments

[larwyn]

TM
This word needs to get out:

Clintonistas going after Curt
Weldon to stop AbleDanger inquires

From AbleDangerBlog today:
snip

....Bryan Lentz, 41, a Swarthmore attorney who volunteered for combat in Iraq, agreed to pull out of the race for the seat of U.S. Rep. Curt Weldon, and run instead for the state House, against Thomas P. Gannon, a 28-year Republican veteran.

Joseph A. Sestak Jr., 54, a recently retired Navy vice admiral who worked in the National Security Council in the Clinton administration, has the inside track to take on Weldon in November.

Paul Scoles, who ran against Weldon in 2004, also quit the race this week and endorsed Sestak. Anyone who has been involved in local politics knows getting two candidates to drop out in one week almost never happens. Someone is worried where this Able Danger story is headed.

A commenter suggests contributing to Curt Weldon's campaign -if you want the Able Danger story to come out. If Weldon loses in November - chances are it will be dropped.

I agree with that.
Rep Curt Weldon
Click here: Able Danger Blog
AbleDangerBlog

That the CLINTONISTAS are beside themselves to
stop the Able Danger story is no surprise.
Nancy Soderberg showed up on Tucker Carlson last night
after long hiatus from cameras after her stunning remark
to Jon Stewart during her book tour.

When Stewart remarked that after the success of the 1st
election in Iraq - "What if Bush is right! My world view (paraphase) would be shattered"
Soderberg responded" We still have Iran and North Korea".

Last night Soderberg told us that Clinton had done a
better job on terrorism than Bush is doing!!!!

So they are sending in the low level troops and Albright's
buddy Wendy also showed up again after long hiatus, on
either CNN or MSNBC.

Their A list is busy with convincing Americans that
the NSA & CIA jails/renditions leaks were by "whistleblowers" and that Plame was covert and that
Bush lied about WMD.

Hope many will support Curt Weldon - we need him
in Congress.

[clarice]

VERY "uncanny sources close to the investigation"--so very uncanny they seem nonexistent.

[Gary Maxwell]

Has Mr. Waas begun a stretch at Raw Story? Its seems right out of their playbook.

[Gary Maxwell]

If you want a laugh follow TM's link to The Prof above and scroll down to the comments. There one Puke is holding forth about some blogs having too many "uninformed" comments.

What color would say that kettle is, Paul?

[Lew Clark]

When is the MSM going to call for Fitzgerald's firing. According to them, Fitz has the goods on Bush, Cheney, Rove, Libby and assorted clerks and cleaning people. But, he can only come up with "misremembering" charges against Libby, the lowest ranking of that "big four". Don't we need a federal prosecutor with the skill to prosecute people for really, really, really serious crimes when he finds proof of their commission.

[clarice]

Lew, I wondered who was stirring that pot at Kos and SU-You devil.*wink*

[clarice]

DU--

[steve sturm]

I wonder if this non-news has anything to do with why Fitzgerald didn't charge Libby with any breach of secrecy-related crime?

[Lew Clark]

Shhh Clarice. Over there I'm not Lew, I'm John Kerry!

[clarice]

steve--if you can find a single way to make the charged conduct fir the IIPA, wire Fitz because he couldn''t with or without the Waasnicht tale.

[clarice]

Lew, you're lowdown and sneaky. I like that in a man.*nudge*

[Roy Lofquist]

So, Libby was authorized to disclose "classified" information. Guess what. If the President says to disclose it it is not classified.

[Jeff]

Hey TM - Now that Cliff May stands alone (or at least apart from Dickerson) in his apparent dishonor, how about a followup? Your prodding of Dickerson worked so well, you'd think May would be more than happy to respond to someone on his own side of the aisle, no? Unless there's something else that would trump that consideration. I can't imagine what.

[clarice]

Jeff, I think he's going to be a surprise witness--disquised as the ubiquitous evil genius R/S/S

[Jeff]

clarice - sorry, I don't get the R/S/S joke. Explain?

[maryrose]

Schrummy on Hardball-God he looks like Rove-but now he's talking about Cheney-going the way of Michael Brown but then says "who would run the country. Repub- says CIA had responsibility to give good info. Pilar is getting all the kudos here and Schrummy really hiding his true identity is singing of the praises of Pilar. Now he's saying it was Cheney's CIA and now the administration has a credibility chasm. Chris has to hold Schrummy back so other guy can talk. Chris said Kerry saw same intel and Schrummy says more people should have stood up tp Chalabi. Andrea Mitchell in her report about Pilar says Pilar claims Iraq AlQueda connection MANUFACTURED by the White House.
In The immortal words of Butch Cassidy" Who are theseGuys?" Any help in this area?

[maryrose]

Jeff:
Two weeks ago we had a storyline going that Rove was actually in disguise as Soros and Bob Schrum.

[owl]

Dick Sauber (Matt Cooper's lawyer) just had a very interesting conversation with Matthews about if Cheney could declassify. He held that the President can give the VP that authority to act for him.

Put bluntly......ya barkin up the wrong tree if you think he can't. (or so Coop's lawyer says)

[Jeff]

Thanks, maryrose.

[clarice]

Here's the thing about the left embracing Pillar. He believes the nincompoop Intel agencies should be independent like the Federal Reserve. Now, the people who are bitching about "warrantless searches" re Al Qaeda phone calls, are embracing someone who wants to make those nitwits almost oversight and removal free.
Luckily for us, that idea conflicts with the Constitution which still vests with the Executive the power to determine national defense.

And what's his thesis? Sure, we were wrong but it's so un-fa-ir that we didn't get the final say so.

[Lou Grunt]

"Paul Pillar Speaks, Again
The latest CIA attack on the Bush administration is nothing new.
by Stephen F. Hayes
02/10/2006 4:15:00 PM "

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/006/713hkkee.asp

[kim]

Would Tenet count as a 'superior' to Libby?
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[kim]

Thank you, Lou. I just love it. Hayes highlights a late '98 email from Clarke to Berger documenting an Iraq-al Qaeda link in the aspirin factory Bill took out in the afterglow.

What did Berger steal? I think it is still important to know, else why was it important enough to steal? Any ideas short of torture to get him to spill it? An appeal to patriotism? Oh, why do I even ask?
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[Truzenzuzex]

TM:

C'mon, leads are hiding in plain sight.

Heh. Can you imagine this line in a NYT story:

ReddHedd, who writes at blog "firedoglake", pointed out in a blog post that...

We'll know the apocalypse has arrived when that happens...

[Cecil Turner]

If you want a laugh follow TM's link to The Prof above and scroll down to the comments. There one Puke is holding forth about some blogs having too many "uninformed" comments.

That is hilarious! And this one is even better:

Libby's lawyers did issue a "denial" today -- but oddly enough, what was "denied" was something that no one had asserted... []
1) that Libby planned on using the "I was just following orders" defense. [. . .]
2) that there had been a conference call between Libby's lawyers and Judge Watson.

Oh really? Do tell, p.luk. Seems to me that if we bother to read the first comment on that thread, and follow the handily provided link, we find 1)

I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, will in part base his defense on the claim that Cheney instructed and encouraged Libby to share classified information with reporters . . .

and 2)

Libby's attorneys discussed the matter with prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald and the judge in the case in a recent conference call, the sources confirmed.

The denial follows. Considering he's nearly perfect at being wrong, I think I'd take p.luk's disdain as praise.

[kim]

He's probably dead wrong about the 'key' bit being the authorization by 'superiors'.
==============================================

[kim]

However it may be an exonerative bit if 'superiors' turns out to be any or all of the trio of Bush, Cheney, or Tenet, thus a tune in a different key from the strings he is pluking.
===============================================

[Lew Clark]

Think of it. Libby reports to Cheney, who reports to Bush, who reports to the people of the nation who elected him. I am part of that electorate, thus Bush's superior.

I told Libby to leak that stuff. And Libby understands the constitution, so he did it!

[Cecil Turner]

It seems to me there's little of interest here, even if you assume it's true. The Executive is responsible for all classification and declassification, and this was obviously decided at the highest level. The contention that Cheney may not have perfectly followed declassification procedures is of interest only to his boss (and only if he disagreed with him on the point, which seems doubtful). Further, it's obvious from some of the other official comments (e.g., Rice's immediately before Tenet's statement on the "16 words") that they were in fact trying for some spin management before the intel was released. (Which is not the same as "before it was declassified.") Considering the ridiculous inferences by the press on the whole Wilson thing, it was probably justified.

[clarice]

Cecil, some days my brain hurts from the amount of stupidity flying around. On those days your clear thinking beats aspirin.

[kim]

You just get a nice endorphin release realizing that sense can be made of things.
=========================================

[maryrose]

Clarice,Cecil, Kim,
I know I count on you three and Rick included to make it all clear for me.

[kim]

The clarifiers outnumber the obfuscators here, but I battle on despite the odds.
=========================================

[owl]

Yep...so someone tell me what Berger stole? I'm with you Kim, it had to be a lu-lu to make it worth that risk. Did anyone ever figure out anything that made sense? I don't want to miss anything....

[clarice]

I suspect it was some notation on the papers which implicated him or Clinton is wrongdoing or misfeasance which related to AQ or Saddam or both and which he feared would be damaging in the 9/11 hearings.

OTOH for all I know it could have been an old doodle in which he indicated Kerry was a dunce.

[kim]

And I can't help but believe the information he's concealed is still important. I hope he roasts in a particular hell unless he comes clean.
======================================

[clarice]

I thought the dog and pony show the Dems pulled at the time amusing.

http://americanthinker.com/articles.php?article_id=3704&search=clarice

[Rick Ballard]

A marginal note "Gorelick says we need to back off on Able Danger, the boss agrees."

Just a marginal note.

[clarice]

Could be. Would have made is embarrassing, wouldn't it?

Or "BeniVeniste will cover for us if the shit ever hits the fan."

[kim]

Historians will damn him for his subterfuge.
============================================

[kim]

He's lost the benefit of the doubt.
===================================

[clarice]

When your very name evokes laughter, I think you can kiss away the thought of ever being considered for a high level national defense position again.

But then who am I to talk? I never imagined the Dems would take Viet Nam traitor to the troops Kerry and make him their nominee. And the notion of planning a whole campaign around his reporting for duty was so absurd, even loaded and posting on the Friday night R/S/S thread, I could never have imagined it.

[noah]

Saw a report at NRO media blog that MSNBC has misreported that Cheney told Libby to disclose Plame's identity...how can those idots get things sooooo wrong?

[maryrose]

Noah,
Because at MSNBC they are obsessed with getting either Rove or Cheney frog-marched out of the White House. Every little tidbit is immediately blown out of proportion and then the lying begins and subsequently- nothing-no retraction-no we were wrong-nothing to fix the perception.

[maryrose]

I agree clarice,that Kerry reporting for duty with that salute was so hokey I just had to laugh out loud. Then arriving by boat was another piece of "look at me" theater. Remember when he had to wear that goofy space get-up and then got all mad when newspapers printed his picture? My all time favorite two were- wind-surfing and yelling at the secret service guy after Kerry fell skiing. Of course with teresa it was the" Shove it" moment.

[kim]

Time and time again the liberal paradigm reveals itself to be farcical. It's a postmodern irony.
================================================

[kim]

Here's young folks on Dems defeating SS reform: Why are those folks so gleeful? It's my blood, sweat, and tears being sucked off where they ain't needed.
==============================================

[maryrose]

Kim;
I mean the dems are actually standing up and cheering,well they lost my son and daughter's votes with that childish display.

[kim]

Possibly Rove and Bush's greatest rope-a-dope. Your childrens' demographic is growing; the demographic that still believes in the Ponzi scheme is not.
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[Larry]

Mtp just now. Roberts says 250 analysts interviewed during Senate intelligence investigation, including, "this gentleman" (Pillar). No such rhetoric from any analyst, including, "this gentleman".